Improvement in eredging- and excavating-machines



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WALTER H. PEARsoN, OF'PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

Letters Patent No. 101,157, dated March22, 1870.

11MPrzovizavn-zNT` IN DREDGING AND ExcAvATING-MAcHm-ns.

The Schedule referredto lnthese Letters Patent and making part of the same.

vTo all whom it may concern:

Be it known'that I, WALTER H. PEARSON, of the city andI county of' Philadelphia, and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful 1mprovements in Dredging and Excavating-Machines; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings which make a part ot' this specification, and in which- Figure 1 represents a view 'in perspective of a dredging-machine, embracing my improvements, the bucket occupying the position it does when being elevated with its load.

Figure 2 represents a section, showing the mechauismfor operating the bucket from either end ofthe machine.

Figure 3 represents a sectional view.of the bucketcarriage-and' its adjustable supporting-arri), the beam of the bucket being in the position to he swiveled to reverse the bucket.

Figure d represents a view of the lmcket-carriage, nearly in the position it occupies to detach the crane from its supporting and lockingpost.

My invention relates to the construction oi' a machine forexcavating under water, for deepening channels, docks, 850., and consists in the employment of a bucket, capable of being reversed in its position, so that it may be operated in either direction along the face of the machine, in connection with a traveling` and4 supporting-carriage and a crane, located and ar' ranged to operate the bucketat each end of the machine in either direction; also, in means for adjusting the arm which carries-the bucket also, in supporting and locking the crane to a stud, and automatica-lly detaching it therefrom, at the proper moment,

by the movement of the carriage of theexav'atingbucket, and finally, in an adjustable arm or cat-head, for supporting-the chain hy which the bucketis operated, in such manner as to admit of its withdrawal l when/thev bucket yis being' elevated.

. In theaccompanying drawings- A represents the boat or screw, about thilty feet width of beam, tifty feet long, and eight feet hold, constructed in any suitable manner for sustaining the sevand they are provided with racks on their inner faces,

into which levers may be made to bite, so as to raise them in moving the machine from place to place. It

may also be provided with stanchions at each end, by which the machine maybe moved and further secured.

The dredging-bucket C is arranged to operate at the face-ofthe machine, and is supported by suitable mechanism at the middle of its length, and ou either side thereof a crane, D, is arranged, so .as to sweep from the face to the end of the machine.

The mechanism for carrying and supporting the dredging-bucket consists of a wrought-iron carriage,

E, of sufficient weight to keep it firmly upon its Way,

F, from which an arm, G,extends from the operatingface to the opposite side of the machine, whereit is pivoted to a strong post, H, While thc carriage is supported upon anti-friction rollers a, and runs upon a strong segmental Way or rail, F, made preferably ot' `Wrought-iron, and is steadied and braced thereon by a shoulder, b, on its under-side, acting against theinner edge of said way. This way is supported upon three studs I, the outer-ones of which extend above it and form guards or stops I2, to the. movement of the car,- ria-ge, the limit of which upon its supporting-way or rail should be about one-third the length of the boat.

To this carriage E is secured the arm J, which supports and carries the dredging-bucket Q. It is made ycylindrical and passes through two uprights in the carriage, so as to admit of' its being adjusted toward or from the machine, and allow it to'swivel within its bearings, to accommodate the movement ofthe bucket.

The means of adjusting it consists in providing it with a series of parallel grooves or channels c, into any one of which-a plate, d, litted to the' rear vertical bar ofthe carriage, may be made to bite and hold by means of a set-screw, said plate having a slot, so that it may he raised and interlocked with the channels of the swiveling-arln, as it' may be desired to adjust said arm with the bucket toward or from the machine.

These channels or grooves serve also as the means of effecting this adjustment of the supporting-arm by lever, e, pivoted to the lower rear end of the carriage E, so that .its upper end will take into any one ot the beam is made square and of `proper. length, to the lower end ofwhich the bucket Gis secured and braced in any suitable manner.

The bucket is provided with a bale, g, to which the elevating chainjz is attached by a hook, 2'., and with a hinged door provided with suitable catches, by which it may be opened, closed, and locked.

The square beam K ofthe bucket is fitted into and "the vertical post, and one within its angular brace,

and thence around a drum, N, driven by theengine.

Inorder to support and lock the crane 1 in aixed a* position during the operation of dredging, a post, O, is

arranged, having a shoulder, k, upon which the angularbrace D of the crane rests in a position at right angles to the face of the machine,.gand -in which position it is locked to said supporting-post O by means of a weighted .catch,`l, pivoted to said post, so that one end will lock itself with the diagonal braces D of the crane, while the other end extends toward the pivoted arm Grof the bucket-carriage, and is curved upward `and maintains a position to bev struck b v the said pivoted arm to release the crane from its lockedposition, when the carriage is brought over to the limit of its movement, as shown'in tig. 4, and thus allow the crane to sweep around with the bucket in theposition to discharge its contents. 4

Thus, it will be seen, the crane not only is firmly sustained against the great strain of the bucket while being filled, but is engaged and disengaged from its lsupport automatically, as the crane when brought back against t-he post locks itself therewith, and is disengaged therefrorn by a movement'of the carriage, after the bucket is filled, and it becomes necessary that the crane should turn to change itsposition.

The bucket thus suspended a'nd operated can move only' in onedirection. To reverse it, in order that it shall move in the opposite direction, it is raised by its connecting-chain r, so as to elevate it ina position near its adjustable supporting-arm J,- in which position it is held by means of a hinged link, in, depending from the adjustable arm, so as to catch under a projection, m, on thebeam of the bucket, and hold it in that position.

Thel hook/i of the chain is then detached from the bale of Ithe bucket, and the beam K is swiveled or 4turned within its socket, so as to reverse the acting end of the bucket, to` allow it to dredge-in an opposite direction. y

This swivelingv motion is effected by making the beam of the bucket cylindrical at a point, 1), which "is venient device, and the hinged link, which engages.

with the opposite projection on the beam, is released therefrom, which allows the beam with its bucket to descend by its own gravity, in the -proper position to commence dredging in a reverse direction.

The drum N o f the crane first operated is now' unclutched from its driving-shaft P, and the drum of the opposite crane thrown into gear, and thus the two cranes are `brought into operation by simplyswiveling the bucket and disepgaging and engaging the drrrms of their respective cranes.

The adjustable arm or cat-'head M, for supporting thech'ain of the bncket,`is secured by means ef strong iron stirrups q, arranged at suitable distances apart,

and bolted to the bottom of the boat, so as to form additional braces to the strrrcture.

The upper side of these cat-heads is cog'gefthinto' which a reversible dog, r, carried by a hinged lever, Q, is made to bite, so as to move said arm with the sheave L, which supports the chain, Itoward or from .the machine, to adapt it to the adjustment of the bucket,and to allow it to be withdrawn out of the range of the chain when the bucket is being elevated and carried The lever Q of the reversible dog lr is hinged and provided with a slot, so as to allowthe dog to be operated backward or forward by a corresponding movement of the lever. A

The operating-drums N are attached to a common shaft, P, andare provided with suitable clutches to engage ordisengage them therefrom. 'lhis shaft is driven by a gear-wheel, R, arranged at one end thereof, which meshes intoa corresponding bevel-gear piuion, S, on a crank-shaft at right angles thereto, to which the connecting-rod from the engine is attached, whereby the bucket is operated from vtwo lseparate cranes, by mechanism. connecting with one end only of the driving-shaft.

The bevel-wheel Stof the crank-shaft may be thrown in to and o ut of gear with the driving-shaft by a suitable clutch, T, and the driving-'shaft may be provided with suitable braking devices.

The' operation ofthe machine will be readily understood from the foregoing description, and it need only be stated that the bucket, when filled and elevated, is opened, so as to discharge its load -by any convenient means for opening the bottom, and closed by strikingthe water iu its descent. I

The carriage of the bucket is supported against th guards I? of the segmental way during the operation of filling the bucket, and is moved forward against the opposite guard by the swinging movement of the beam' to carry the bucket up over the tender, the beam having a stop at its upper end, to prevent it from coming out of the socket of its supporting-arm.

over toV dischargeits load.

The range of the motion of this carriage being about one-third o f the length of the boat, and the beam about forty feet in length, will give an acting range to the bucket, not only along the entire face of the machine, buta distance beyond either side thereof, while the adj ustnrerrt of the swiveling supporting-arm admits of the extension of the bucket beyond the face of the machine a distance of about twelve feet, thus operating back and forth over an area of about seven hundred and fifty square feet without requiring the removal of the machine Afrom its xed position.

In order to control the movement of the dredgingbucket so that it may be operated step by-step in gradually increasing strokes, I construct the horizontal pivotal arm J, which carries and supports the bucket with a T-shaped handle, U, on its rear end', which the attendant grasps and swivels the supporting-arm, so as to present the .bucket to t-lre bed of the river always 'a sutiicient distance beyond the limit of its preceding stroke to iill the bucket, and this movement is et'- fectedin either direction ofthe working of the bucket. The T-shaped arm may be provided with chains V, by ,which the handle may be operated, if desired.

Havingthus described my invention, l claim- 1. The reversible bucket C, connected to a swiveling adjustable arm J, mounted in a carriage, E, pivoted and supported upon a segmental way, F, substantially. .as herein described.

2. The swiveling supporting-arm J of the bucket, adjusted 'and locked within andto its carriage by means of the'parallel grooves c, adjusting lever e and locking-plated, or their equivalents, substantially as described.

3. A dredging-bucket, mounted and carried upon its supporting-arm, so as to be swveled and reversed, to excavate in exactly opposite directions along the entireLface of' the machine, substantially as described.

4. The beam K of the dredging-bucket, having a cylindrical port-ion, p, for the purpose of allowing it to be swiveled within the socket f of the adjustable arm J, in combination with the supporting-pin j, and supporting-linkm, for maintaining the bucket in position to be reversed, substantially as described.

5. The cat-head or arm M of the bucket-chain, made adjustable and operated by means of the rack, hinged lever Q, and reversible dog 1*, substantially as described.

6. The weighted catches l, constructed and arranged in such manner as to lock th cranes D automatically to their respective supporting-posts O, when the bucket is operated from either crane, substantially as described.

7. In combination with the crane D and the Weight-ei. catch l of the supporting-post O,the arm G'of the carriage E, for automatically releasing by its movement the said crane, to allow it to swing round with. the bucket at the proper time, as herein described.

8. The combination and arrangement of the single driving-shaft P, drums N, cranes '1), carriage E, and reversible bucket C, the whole constructed, arranged, and operating substantially as described.

9. The swiveling supporting-arm J, constructed with a handle, U, or its equivalent, for controlling the move'- ment of the bucket, substantially as herein described.

WALTER H. PEARSON.

Witnesses S. G. PEARsoN, WILLIAM R. EYANs.. 

